Europe’s Copernicus Earth Observation Constellation welcomed its seventh member on Wednesday after the Sentinel-3B ocean- and land-sensing satellite received a smooth ride to orbit atop a Russian ballistic-missile-turned-space-launcher.

A Rockot/Briz-KM launch vehicle lifted off from Site 133/3 at Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome on April 25, 2018 at 17:57:52 UTC with the Sentinel-3B satellite set to join Europe’s Copernicus Constellation as its seventh member.

A Rockot/Briz-KM launch vehicle lifted off from Site 133/3 at Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome on April 25, 2018 at 17:57:52 UTC with the Sentinel-3B satellite set to join Europe’s Copernicus Constellation as its seventh member.

Europe’s Copernicus satellite fleet is gearing up for the arrival of its next addition on Wednesday with a Russian Rockot booster set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite.

Planet’s Flock 2E’-1 Earth-imaging satellite re-entered the atmosphere on April 15, 2018 – decaying 23 months after being released from the International Space Station to join Planet’s orbiting constellation of Doves that image the entire Earth at least once per day.

The Lemur-2 TRUTNA Satellite, part of Spire Global’s CubeSat Constellation, re-entered the atmosphere on April 15, 2018 after over one year in orbit collecting global ship-tracking data and measuring atmospheric parameters.

Planet’s Flock 2E-7 Earth-imaging satellite re-entered the atmosphere on April 6, 2018 – decaying 22 months after being released from the International Space Station to join Planet’s orbiting constellation of Doves that image the entire Earth at least once per day.

Three CubeSat Doves belonging to Planet Lab’s Flock of satellites re-entered the atmosphere in a single calendar day on April 5, 2018 after each spent nearly two years in orbit as part of the company’s Earth-imaging constellation.

China carried out its tenth successful space launch of the year on Saturday, employing a Long March 4C rocket with extra-extended payload fairing to transport a stack of three Gaofen-1 Earth-observation satellites into Sun Synchronous Orbit.

The Atlantis CubeSat, part of the QB50 CubeSat initiative, re-entered the atmosphere on March 28, 2018 after less than one year in Low Earth Orbit, becoming the second of the QB50 series to decay from orbit after collecting data from the seldom-measured lower thermosphere.

Planet’s Flock 2E’-9 Earth-imaging satellite re-entered the atmosphere on March 12, 2018 – decaying 22 months after being released from the International Space Station to join Planet’s orbiting constellation of Doves that image the entire Earth at least once per day.

Planet’s Flock 2E-11′ Earth-imaging satellite re-entered the atmosphere on March 11, 2018 – decaying 21 months after being released from the International Space Station to join Planet’s orbiting constellation of Doves that image the entire Earth at least once per day.

Planet’s Flock 2E-4 Earth-imaging satellite re-entered the atmosphere on March 11, 2018 – decaying 22 months after being released from the International Space Station to join Planet’s orbiting constellation of Doves that image the entire Earth at least once per day.

The first spacecraft of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) – run jointly by NASA and the German Aerospace Center – re-entered the atmosphere on March 10, 2018, over four months after ending a science mission of over 15 years.

The Columbia Sat CubeSat, part of the QB50 CubeSat initiative, re-entered the atmosphere on March 7, 2018 after less than one year in Low Earth Orbit, becoming the first of the QB50 series to decay from orbit after collecting data from the seldom-measured lower thermosphere.